(Collage created by Caledonian Kitty. Pictures credited to: Daily Mail)
It was a case that shocked, not only the online community but also various figures in the celebrity world. The horrific murder of rising star 'Mercedes Morr' (real name Jenae Lynn Gagnier). There are those who would say she was more than a rising star, there are people who would argue that she actually made it in life. She certainly did have it all. For this post I will call her Jenae to avoid any confusion with the names. Jenae was always a beautiful girl and as she got older she realised that not only was she intelligent (she always had ideas about having her own business and was a talented hair stylist) but that she could also make a career as a model. She always had ideas and would switch from one thing to the next and even enrolled in college to train as a dental nurse but decided to drop out and move to Las Vegas with her boyfriend.
It was in Las Vegas that Jenae started working as an exotic dancer and created the name 'Mercedes Morr'. Always a self-motivated individual, she chose that name because to her it summed her up, a lover of luxury but always working towards the finer things in life. Being the stunning girl that she was, it wasn't long before she was not only just popular with the customers at the clubs but also celebrities whenever they came into town to party. During her time as a dancer, she also began building an influencer career on Instagram and would often be sponsored by big brands such as Fashionnova.
She started to get invited to parties, concerts and events and would regularly rub shoulders with all of the Hip Hop/R&B artists of the day. When her family first found out that she had been working as an exotic dancer, they didn't approve but when they saw the lifestyle that she was living and the fact that she was bringing home thousands of dollars every weekend, they soon warmed to the idea. Her father said that when she and the family went out for dinner, she would often take out duffel bags full of cash and pay $100s on a meal. She was certainly living the high life with being able to afford anything that she wanted. Despite being a stunning girl already, Jenae felt the pressures of keeping up appearances especially as she was often at these parties surrounded by other models. So she indulged in plastic surgery and beauty treatments. Her most notable plastic surgery was her BBL which drew a lot of attention. In the circles that she moved in it was seen as a big deal about the size of a women's behind. The bigger the booty the more chance you would get invited backstage at a rap concert apparently.
Jenae spent a lot of money on her appearance and worked at it very hard, she managed a lot of things on her own and to her credit, she did an amazing job because she was able to provide for herself and her family in a big way, more than she could ever have dreamed of. But away from all the success and glamourous parties, there was a downside and as would be expected, a trail of haters and creepy men. Jenae had to move around because people would try to track her down and on one occasion someone found out her address and posted it online. She had dealt with many types of characters both online and in real life and it got to the point that she was used to it, her father and family were worried about it but she would tell them it was fine and just part of that life.
It's unclear exactly how much money Jenae made but she was certainly rolling in the cash. She still did some dancing, still devoted a lot of her time to her role as an influencer online. She still attended showbiz parties and also began a very successful OnlyFans page. When it came to boyfriends, she had been unlucky in love quite a few times due to her boyfriends either feeling insecure because of how popular she was and the money she made or were trying to control her and reap the benefits of her lifestyle. Towards the end of her young life she reportedly met a decent guy finally and he loved her for who she was and wasn't about the glamorous lifestyle or money. She began to talk to friends and family about having children and getting married, she seemed to be at a place in her life where she was starting to think about getting settled down.
For her own safety and peace of mind for family members, Janae had found an apartment at a gated community in Richmond, Texas. It was a luxurious apartment and she had made it a cosy home for herself. Jenae was always careful about pictures that she posted on social media but she did have a habit of positing some pictures outside of her front door and drive way, she would blur out the number of the front door. Being in a gated community you would think that it was 100% safe but sadly that was proven to not be the case because somebody did find out where she lived and the results of that discovery were terrifying.
Things were getting really serious between Janae and her boyfriend and they had plans to move in together. Janae had contacted her father via text to ask him if he would stay with her in the new place as her boyfriend wouldn't be able to join her until some time later. That was the last time she had contact with her father.
A huge part of Janae's life and income was based on social media so when her friends and family had not heard from her for a few days and noticed that she hadn't posted on social media, they knew something was wrong. Her father and his girlfriend when over to her apartment and noticed her car in the driveway and her father just sensed that something was wrong so he kicked her front door down.
Sadly her father was to be proven right because they found Janae partially dressed lying at the foot of the stairs like she was curled up in a ball. On closer inspection they could see that her leg was twisted behind her and she was partially dressed. Nobody could imagine the shock and utter devastation that her father and his girlfriend must have been feeling in that moment. They both assumed at first that Janae had a terrible accident and had fallen down the stairs, as they waited for emergency services her father asked his partner to go upstairs and find some clothing to place on Janae.
As his partner entered Janae's bedroom she was met with another horrific site, she screamed for Janae's father and he rushed up the stairs to find a man on the floor covered in blood barely breathing. There was blood all over the place and writing all over the walls in what looked like lipstick and pen. Janae's father shouted at the man ''What the f*** did you do?''
It was clear that this man, later known to authorities as 34 year old Kevin Alexander Accorto from Florida, had murdered Janae and tried to commit suicide himself to which he ended up bleeding to death from his wounds. When authorities arrived they could see that there was traces of blood all over the apartment, apparently he had stayed in the apartment for a few days after killing Janae. He'd taken her lipstick and markers that he had found in the apartment and left a series on bizarre notes all over the walls such as ''Janae led me to think she cared about me but wore another man's ring.'', ''I wish I'd never loved her.'', ''I was used for money.'' and he also wrote ''Sorry to the landlord & community.''
Investigators who went through all of Janae's social media platforms and accounts online with a fine toothed comb, could find no connection to Kevin Accorto, there appeared to be no personal relationship between the pair of them. The situation remains a mystery to this day because how was he able to track her down. Some people believe he could have found her address by hacking into something online as she did accept cash gifts and other items from subscribers to her OnlyFans. Another possibility is that he kept track of the locations she had posted previously on her socials and had managed to figure out that she was based in Texas and paid attention to the car she drove and the front door of her house (even though she blurred the door number out).
But more questions remain as to how he was able to get into a gated community and why there was no appearance of forced entry. There was only one way in to Janae's apartment and it appears that she had let him in, was he posing as a delivery man? Other speculation is that the gift address she was using was not a P.O Box but her actual address but I can't see her doing that. He was found upstairs in her bedroom and she was found at the foot of the stairs. To get to her bedroom he would have to go up the stairs, did he chase her up the stairs and there was a struggle, did she manage to get away but he grabbed her, strangled her and she fell down the stairs or was thrown? Her cause of death was determined as a combination of strangulation and severe head trauma. There was no indication of sexual assault but she was found partially dressed. Could he have tried to attack her but she fought back? Whatever the case, it was horrendous and must have been truly terrifying.
It is believed that this obsessed man had been triggered by an instagram post where Janae had shared a picture of herself and her boyfriend, she was wearing a ring. It sparks memories of the post I had written back in 2019 about Bjork's stalker Ricardo Lopez. Ricardo Lopez was an obsessed fan of the legendary singer, Bjork. He'd convinced himself that they were meant to be together and he had pictures of her everywhere and was devoted to her and her music. The minute he saw a magazine article where she was seen with a man, all hell broke loose. The admiration and supposed 'love' that he had for Bjork soon turned to blind hate and he set about planning to ruin her life. His mission was to either kill her or disfigure her so that every time she looked in the mirror she would be reminded of him. It was a very dark and disturbing situation and even now when I see Bjork it amazes me how she was able to come through that ordeal. Ricardo created a letter bomb that was filled with acid actually sent this parcel with plans to take his own life. I talk about this horrendous nightmare more in depth in my article about this terrifying story but long story short, he committed suicide and recorded it (he'd been vlogging all the way up until that point, going through the process of building this bomb, his plans and rambling on about Bjork as he spiralled further and further into insanity). Fortunately Bjork and her son were completely fine and authorities at Scotland Yard had gotten the parcel before it even made it to Bjork's home.
This heartbreaking and very disturbing case happened in August of 2021 and although Jenae's death was reported as being on August the 29th it is unknown exactly when he had killed her because he'd been in the apartment for a few days. Jenae had not been in contact with anyone and the last her father had heard of her was on the 17th of August. She was just 33 years old with the rest of her life ahead of her and she had such big plans to settle down and who knows what was next for her in terms of her career, she was certainly living her dreams and to her family I'm sure that's all they could have hoped for. To take on board that she had achieved so much in her short life and was living like a celebrity, living the dream and had experienced things that other people could only dream of.
Another upsetting fact about this story is that when Jenae's death was announced, the rumour mill went into overdrive online. She was judged by many because of her lifestyle working in the gentlemen's clubs and having an OnlyFans. Some people put two and two together and came up with the idea that Kevin Accorto was a sugardaddy or a 'client' of Jenae's. She'd been accused of being a prostitute and all sorts of unsavoury things. It got to the point where such vile was left on her Instagram account that it was taken down. During my research into this case I have seen endless distasteful things said about Jenae online, even on her memorial page that her family had set up.
So many people who knew Jenae well and even those who only met her once had described how she was a ray of light and a sweetheart. She was and is very missed to those that knew her. The Canadian rapper, Drake dedicated his album 'Certified Lover Boy' to Jenae and his late friend, Nadia Ntuli.
A lot of details about Jenae's funeral and her final resting place or cremation has been kept private but as I mentioned before, there is an online memorial (please ignore the obscenities that are on there) which you can leave a note and virtual flowers here on her tribute wall. The memorial was last updated in 2021 and nothing has been written on it since. I decided as a mark of respect to leave a little tribute on there myself.
This is a really sad story and it's a terrible reminder that we can never be too careful. Jenae tried to take many steps to ensure her safety but when you have a nutcase who is fixated on you they can be so determined to find out where you are that they will literally stop at nothing to track you down.
Try as much as you can to keep yourself safe, never post your location and don't post pictures of yourself outside of your house or your car with the licence plate showing. Stalkers take note of everything, even if you have a coffee shop that you go to on a regular basis, make sure you go at different times and with a friend. If you choose to have a P.O Box for whatever reason, be careful because these can be hacked and they can track down where your P.O Box is based and literally wait at that location in the off chance that you pick up packages. If possible, send someone else to collect your items or go very early in the morning at a random time, never on the same day or time. It all sounds crazy but as a survivor of a stalker I know how everyday things like this can be what these stalkers watch out for.
If you've made it this far in the post I thank you as always and appreciate it very much. My heart continues to go out to Jenae and her family, it was a terrible and heartbreaking waste of a beautiful young woman's life and we may never know what the true story is or what really happened that day he managed to get into her apartment but the fact is, a beautiful, talented woman has had her life so heartlessly taken. RIP Jenae.
Further reading & sources:
- Mercedes Morr: Article | Rolling Stone
- Mercedes Morr: Article/Report | ABC7
- Mercedes Morr: Article | NBC News
- Mercedes Morr: Article | Click2Houston
- Mercedes Morr: Article | ABC13
- Mercedes Morr: Article | People
- Jenae Gagnier: Article | CBS News
- Jenae Lynn Gagnier: Obituary | David Green Lawn Funerla Chapels & Cemeteries
- Kevin Accorto: Article | Law And Crime News
- Kevin Accorto: Article | The Sun
- Mercedes Morr: Article | New York Post
- Sugarland Apartments, Texas | Camden Living
- Certified Lover Boy | Album by Drake
Thank for joining me in my latest post, I hope you will again next time. If you would like to help support my work by buying me a coffee, you can do so here
See you in the next post....stay safe x
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